Volvo Cars swings to Q3 loss and cuts 2,500 jobs as China sales fall nearly 50%

Loss in the third quarter

Volvo Cars swung into the red in the third quarter of 2026, reporting an adjusted operating loss of SEK 3.7 billion. A year earlier the company had posted a profit of SEK 5.8 billion on the same measure. The net result moved from a profit of SEK 4.5 billion in the third quarter of 2025 to a net loss of SEK 5.7 billion, while revenue fell 23% to SEK 66.9 billion. Outlets converted the operating loss into euros at different rates, giving figures of about 330 million and about 333 million euros. Volvo blamed a slow start to production of its new EX60 electric SUV, along with weak demand in China and the United States.

Q3 2025 adjusted operating result5.8

Q3 2026 adjusted operating result-3.7

Q3 2025 net result4.5

Q3 2026 net result-5.7

Q3 2025 adjusted operating result

5.8 SEK bn

Q3 2026 adjusted operating result

-3.7 SEK bn

Q3 2025 net result

4.5 SEK bn

Q3 2026 net result

-5.7 SEK bn

Data from the article text

Job cuts and savings plan

The Geely-controlled carmaker plans to cut 2,500 positions worldwide, 2,000 of them in Sweden. Bloomberg puts the reduction at around 6% of the global workforce, and the company employs 42,600 people. Volvo expects to cut SEK 5 billion in indirect and variable costs, on top of savings programmes already under way. The reductions will come through ending consultant contracts, natural departures and targeted severance offers, with the full financial effect due by the end of 2027. The new round follows 3,000 job cuts that Håkan Samuelsson announced in 2025 after returning as chief executive, according to ORF. By the end of 2027 the company expects overall indirect spending to be almost 25% below its 2024 level.

Pressure in China and the United States

Sales in China fell by almost 50% compared with a year earlier, and the company points to intense competition from new Chinese brands that has pushed prices down sharply. In the United States, the lasting effects of tariffs and the removal of purchase incentives for electrified cars are weighing on the business. Samuelsson said the weak performance in those two markets meant half of the group's operations were not contributing to profitability. Volvo plans to unveil and start production of the first two models in a series of six designed specifically for China in mid-2027, developed in closer collaboration with Geely. The group had already dropped, in 2024, its goal of selling only electric cars by 2030.

Company response

Samuelsson described the third quarter as very disappointing and said the group still operates in a very difficult environment marked by trade pressures, deglobalisation and climate change. He said the company's long-term strategy remains the right one to meet these challenges. Volvo framed the results as reflecting a further deterioration of the external environment, driven mainly by markets in China and the United States. The statement accompanied the quarterly report, which also set out the savings targets and the timetable for the job cuts through to the end of 2027.